Chinese property developer Evergrande yesterday defended itself against accusations from short-seller Citron Research that it is running a Ponzi scheme.

Evergrande Real Estate, China’s second-biggest property developer by sales, denied yesterday that it has used “accounting tricks and bribes” to hide the fact that it is insolvent. Evergrande’s board made the statement to Hong Kong’s stock exchange in response to allegations made in a report published on Thursday by Citron Research, a short-seller.

The analysis, compiled over “several months”, was certainly damning. Citron described the company as a Ponzi scheme and alleged that “bribery, excessive...